Chapter 399

At the moment the defensive line was about to collapse completely.

"Fierce Country lads! Follow me in killing——!"

A clear, ringing roar came from behind the two, like a sharp sword instantly splitting the dull battlefield!

The two turned and saw the fierce, armor-bright Fierce Country reinforcements charging madly toward them!

The leading commander, on a white horse with a silver spear, stern-faced, was Xiao Ningchen!

Behind him, the large banner bearing the character 'Xiao' fluttered loudly.

"Father! Son has come! Rest a while!" Xiao Ningchen rode up to his father: "Is Tuan Tuan alright? And the third brother?"

Xiao Yuanhang laughed: "Tuan Tuan is in the main camp; I just saw Xun Er!"

"How did you get here so fast? And His Majesty?"

"His Majesty is behind! The main army marches too slowly; I couldn't rest easy, so I brought thirty thousand troops, marching day and night to get here first!"

Xiao Ningchen swung his broadsword, and a head flew up instantly: "Elder Brother Ji! When did you arrive?"

Jifeng's spirits lifted: "I arrived an hour earlier than you! You came just in time!"

"Reinforcements!"

"They are our Fierce Country's reinforcements!"

"Kill! Kill these monsters!"

All Fierce Country soldiers' morale instantly rose.

The addition of this reinforcement was like pouring hot oil on a fire about to go out!

The pressure on the previously wavering defensive line suddenly eased, gradually stabilizing its stance, and even began to push back against the Da Xia camp.

Suddenly, Xiao Ningchen's gaze fixed straight ahead, and he froze.

All that could be seen was a Da Xia soldier whose legs had been hacked off, clawing at the dirt with both hands, dragging two long trails of blood behind him.

He grinning savagely, grabbed a Fierce Country soldier's leg and lunged to bite his calf!

Another soldier, his chest pierced by a spear, clenched the shaft with both hands, blood gushing wildly, stepped step by step toward the one who had stabbed him, extending both large hands to clamp his throat!

Xiao Ningchen felt his scalp go numb, and he exclaimed in shock: "What the hell is this? Are they human or ghost? What's wrong with the Da Xia people?"

Xiao Yuanhang thrust his spear through an enemy soldier's back: "This is a formation!"

Before his words faded, a dense barrage of war drums, each beat louder than the last, came from the Da Xia central command!

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom——!"

The drumbeat tyrannically urged, piercing the shouts on the battlefield, striking everyone's heart.

With the drumbeat, the Da Xia soldiers whose eyes already glowed red became even more frenzied!

The line that had just barely stabilized, under the drum-driven frenzied counterattack, began to bend and deform backward again!

Gongsun Chi walked out of the main tent, gazing at the soldiers with severed limbs on the battlefield: "Beat hard! Urge them on!"

"We must devour all the troops here before Xiao Jieyun's great army arrives!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom——!"

The war drum's sound grew even more urgent.

The drumbeat frightened Gongsun Yue, who had run into the main camp, nearly making him fall.

Not long ago, Xiao Ningchen had placed him at the main camp's gate before charging into battle, leaving two people with him and instructing: "Stay sharp! If something seems wrong, run quickly."

"Got it!" Gongsun Yue just wanted to find Tuan Tuan, and he sprinted off into the depths of the main camp.

He shouted while yelling loudly: "Tuan Tuan! Tuan Tuan! Where are you?"

Finally, running to the front of the last large tent, he saw dozens of personal guards standing outside.

"Halt! Who goes there?" a personal guard stepped forward to block him.

Gongsun Yue, out of breath and face flushed: "I, I came to find Tuan Tuan! I'm from the Ning Prince's Mansion! Her attendant!"

The personal guard sized him up, seeing his fine attire and handsome looks, dared not neglect: "Come with me."

Lifting the tent curtain, Gongsun Yue immediately saw Tuan Tuan sitting in a chair.

"Tuan Tuan! I'm here!" he started to lunge forward, but Lu Qi, standing nearby, grabbed him.

"Who are you? How did you get here?"

"I'm from the Ning Prince's Mansion! Tuan Tuan's attendant! I came with Second Young Master Xiao Ningchen! What's wrong with her? She looks strange."

Upon hearing "Ning Prince's Mansion," Xiao Ningchen, Lu Qi loosened his grip.

Gongsun Yue lunged to Tuan Tuan's front, seeing her lifeless appearance, his heart leapt to his throat: "How did she end up like this?"

The young lady has been struck by the Soul Separation Technique; her soul has been seized.

The National Preceptor has gone to look for her.

"Soul Separation Technique?" Gongsun Yue saw Tuan Tuan still wearing the pearl hairpin he had given her; his heart ached, he reached out and gently touched the pearls on the hairpin.

"Tuan Tuan, I gave you the hairpin beloved by Mother Consort, hoping you would return safely!"

"No matter where your soul has gone, I will find it for you!"

Lu Qi glumly looked at the bell in his hand: "The National Preceptor left this Soul-Calling Bell, saying that if they haven't awakened after an hour, shake this bell; if it rings, you can find them."

"But the time has long passed; no matter how I shake this bell, it doesn't ring!"

"Let me try!" Gongsun Yue, anxious, reached out and snatched the Soul-Calling Bell from Lu Qi's hand, shaking it hard.

"You're just a child……"

Before his words finished.

"Ding-ling……"

A clear bell rang out suddenly from the bell!

"……"

Lu Qi's pupils contracted sharply, he took a sudden step forward: "It rang? Why can you make it ring?"

His words cut off abruptly.

Gongsun Yue, holding the bell, his body stiffened suddenly, the anxious expression on his face froze instantly.

He still maintained his standing posture, his hand gripping the bell never loosened, but his eyes, like Tuan Tuan and Chu Yuan's, became vacant and dazed.

His whole person seemed to turn into an exquisite statue.

Inside the tent, another "sleeping" body appeared.

Lu Qi lowered his head to look at his empty palm, hearing the distant war drums, an unprecedented heaviness and bewilderment pressed on him, making it hard to breathe.

Within the Soul Realm at this moment, a strange stalemate had ensued.

Tuan Tuan commanded myriad golden threads, firmly blocking Wu Luo several steps away.

Wu Luo was surrounded by black mist that surged, sometimes condensing into blades, sometimes turning into ghostly claws, yet always intercepted beforehand by those agile golden threads, unable to advance even a fraction.

Golden light and black mist continually collided, emitting faint sizzling sounds, yet neither could overcome the other.

"Huu..."

Tuan Tuan raised her little arm and waved for a while, so tired!

She turned her head to glance at Chu Yuan sitting cross-legged beside her, practicing breath regulation, her eyes shifted, she retracted some of the golden threads, and ran in circles around her Master.

Soon, the golden threads entwining her formed a protective circle around herself and Chu Yuan.

She pouted her little mouth and plopped down beside Chu Yuan.

She made a face, sitting and continuing to wave the golden threads at Wu Luo: "My arms are sore, you lousy National Preceptor, aren't you tired?"

Wu Luo: "..."

He indeed was also consuming a lot, especially his soul power constantly being disturbed by those annoying golden threads, preventing him from using much of his abilities, feeling stifled to death.

Seeing Tuan Tuan sit down, he also wanted to catch his breath.

No way! What is my status?

How could I be on par with this child? If it got out, people would laugh their teeth off.

Wu Luo forced himself to stay standing in place, the black mist around him had clearly become much thinner.

"Look at you, you can't even stand steady," Tuan Tuan stared at him, sizing him up, "You definitely didn't study properly with my master when you were young, did you?"

"All you think about is how to slack off and cause trouble, right?"

"You!" Wu Luo was furious, yet could do nothing about her.

Tuan Tuan's little face was full of disdain: "Otherwise, how could you be so stupid?"

"You're this—old," she drew out the word, "You've cultivated all your life, yet you can't even beat me, a kid who just became your disciple?"

"My master is far more capable than you!"

Chu Yuan's mouth corner twitched involuntarily.

He had witnessed countless duels, tragic, brutal, mysterious... yet he had never seen anything like this before.

One sat on the ground shouting tired, the other stood, seething with rage and trembling, yet unable to approach.

It was truly ridiculous to the extreme.

"My disciple, if we win this time, the credit of that little mouth will likely account for half."

"You little mouthy troublemaker!" Wu Luo was fuming from Tuan Tuan's taunts, his seven orifices smoking, and he could no longer hold back.

He simply sat cross-legged as well, continuing the duel with Tuan Tuan, staring each other down.

Suddenly, the gray mist at the edge of the Soul Realm surged, and a small figure stumbled in.

"Xiao Yueyue!" Tuan Tuan's eyes lit up, "How did you come here?"

"Where are Imperial Uncle and Second Brother? Did they also come?"